Saltwater sport fishing typically consists of placing anglers on boats to reach productive offshore fishing grounds. A productive method of catching fish involves a technique known as trolling wherein the angler drags baited hooks behind the stern of a slow moving boat. To increase the chance of hooking a fish, it is an important consideration to have as many lines in the water as possible. In general, the wake of the boat appears, to a gamefish, as a large school of smaller fish. With a multitude of baited lines, the fisherman can strategically simulate bands of straggling or displaced fish from the school. These stragglers are the weaker fish that gamefish typically prey upon.
Ideally a fisherman will drag as many lines as possible behind the boat to increase the chances of a strike. However, the more lines that are used, the higher the chance of the lines becoming tangled with each other. This is particularly true of a narrow beam boat or any boat that is in the process of being turned. As a result, sport fishing outriggers have been developed to assist in keeping the various lines separated.
Outriggers consist of a long pole, or boom, having one end secured to the boat with deployment caused by the outward lateral extension of the boom from a side of the boat. Baited fishing lines, with release clips, are attached to the outriggers and thereby provide enough separation between the lines to prevent tangling. When a fish strikes the bait, the line clip releases from the outrigger and the fisherman reels in the fish.
By law (and practicality), outriggers must be freely stowable to a position along-side the boat for close quarter operation and docking. For practical operation, the outrigger must necessarily be swung laterally outward to its deployed position. The prior art, not necessarily patented, but used for many years in the field, includes all types of mounting schemes including outrigger units for horizontal and vertical mounting, on center consoles, flybridges, half towers, tuna towers, radar arches, and/or T-tops. Prior patents disclose a variety of methods for mounting, deploying, and locking into place such outriggers (see e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,724,791; 4,384,542; 4,993,346; 5,140,928; 5,191,852; 5,243,927; and 5,245,780), with each having distinct drawbacks. Such drawbacks include overall mechanical complexity; powered operation; non-durable metal-on-metal construction; and/or ineffective position adjustment and locking mechanisms which slip and/or wear out, especially due to metal-on-metal construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,542 discloses collapsible support members and a slidable connection for achieving pivotal movement of the tubular member about multiple axes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,928 discloses a complex electro-hydraulic mechanism with a helm-mounted joystick control system for independent movement of each outrigger boom.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,927 discloses a tubular housing with a hydraulically driven piston for positioning the attached outrigger.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,780 discloses an outrigger with variable length strut members to change the position of the outrigger device.
While the prior art discloses a wide variety of mechanisms and mounting locations, the prior art fails to disclose or otherwise teach a simple, yet durable, outrigger system having an effective locking mechanism and a means for vertical displacement of the boom. This is particularly necessary in light of the excessive movement experienced by a long outrigger in operation. A 20-30 foot boom will be affected by both wind and movement of the boat which causes incessant back-and-forth stresses at the outrigger's mount. In general, the longer the boom, the higher the stresses at the mounting bracket. If the position adjustment and/or locking mechanism were to fail, the outrigger might freely swing out during a critical maneuver or operation, with possibly disastrous or life-threatening effects to passengers on board the outrigger equipped boat or surrounding vessels. For this reason, the inventor developed an outrigger assembly with a position adjustment and locking mechanism as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,893, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The invention also eliminated the metal-on-metal devices which produced excessive wear and galling of the aluminum parts.
As described in various prior art patents previously mentioned, the mounting and operation of a conventional outrigger system on a medium or large size boat can be quite complicated. Booms of considerable length must be stored in an upright position to allow the vessel to pass beneath low bridges and for close quarter maneuvering. Preferably the boom and outrigger not only rotates outward from the side of the vessel but can also be easily lowered from the raised storage position for deployment. Thus, in operation of a conventional boom, the boom is moved into position by first unclamping a securement bracket which allows the outrigger to be rotated outward wherein the individual holds onto the boom by a flexible line until full deployment. An individual must then stand beneath the outrigger wherein the vertical adjustment post, now extending over the water, is disabled so as to lower the boom to the appropriate trolling angle. The aspect of moving the boom in an outward position is quite dangerous in any type of ocean action. In many instances the vertical position of the boom is first lowered wherein a wave action may cause the boom to swing out while unsecured placing the individual in peril of falling overboard.
Similarly, should the boat pass under a low bridge, the boom must be lowered. In this instance, the boom is detached from the securement clamp and the vertical adjustment disengaged allowing the individual to lower the boom. Again, it is noted that when the boom is detached from the securement clamp it may also pivot outward. Only the individual handling the boom can prevent the outward movement of the boom while in an unsecured position.
Accordingly, what is lacking is an outrigger assembly having both a simplified boom position adjustment and locking mechanism to eliminate the complicated struts commonly used to support outrigger booms.